But despite those relatively low odds, claiming is where your policy will genuinely be put to the test. Consequently, how well a prospective insurer treats claimants should be a core consideration when you're shopping around.
To help, we've surveyed 3,464 car insurance claimants. Here we show you which insurers are best when it comes to handling claims, which claims you're most and least likely to make, and the importance of getting a fair claims settlement.
We also share four expert tips on salvaging a claim that's gone awry.
Can you even claim?
Among policyholders we surveyed, the three most common claims were for accidental damage (44%), windscreen damage (22%), and accidents involving injuries (12%).
Crime also affected significant numbers of claimants – with a tenth each reporting vandalism and theft as the reason they’d claimed. According to the Association of British Insurers, costs of theft claims totalled £142m in July-September last year, whilst the bill for repairs was £1.9bn.
How insurers compare on claims
We asked claimants to tell us how satisfied they were with their provider and how likely they'd be to recommend it based on how it had handled their most recent claim.
We used this feedback to create our Which? claims score, which we've used to rank 14 providers by in the table below.
Find out more:Unfair settlements
When it came to individual providers, most achieved reasonable scores from claimants. However, insurers received some mixed feedback when it came to the fairness of settlements being offered, with only the top two providers managing above three-out-of-five stars in this area.
While insurers accepted the vast majority of claims, more than a tenth (12%) were accepted in part, rather than in full.
And among claimants whose cars had been stolen or written off, over a third found fault with the initial settlement offer the insurer made them. Some 34% rejected the first offer, accepting a subsequent offer.
While some customers we surveyed weren't aware that negotiating settlement offers was an option, many others treated it like a haggling process. One noted 'I just didn’t feel as if the first couple of offers put forward to me were really enough'.
Another commented 'The initial offer was far too low to what was expected. I had to tell them what I wanted and they offered it which was fair enough.'
Unfortunately, you may have to haggle to get a fair payout.
In 2024, the FCA issued a report with evidence of some insurers offering settlements based on unfairly low estimates of the value of customers’ vehicles when written off or stolen – effectively underpaying claims. Last September, the regulator reported that after working with firms it had found to be engaged in this practice, some 270,000 motorists were being issued compensation totalling £200m.
If you receive an offer that doesn’t seem to stand up, query it with the insurer and ask it exactly how it arrived at its figure.
4 tips on avoiding claims catastrophe
While our data suggests that by and large, car insurance claims are handled well, things can and do go wrong. Here are four tips to make sure you get a good result.
1) Pick a good insurer
This sounds obvious, but next time you're weighing up quotes on comparison sites, don't be guided entirely by price.
You can see how 14 compare for claims service in the table above. You can also check our main guide for how satisfied claimants are generally with their insurer, and our rating of 66 policies.
Find out more:2) Request clear information
If the insurer responds to your claim with a disappointing answer, press it for a clear and definitive explanation.
We continue to find alarming numbers of policyholders whose claims were either rejected, disputed or partially paid and who don’t appear to understand why. In this year’s survey, some 66% of respondents whose claims weren’t fully paid said they weren’t given a reason.
3) Be prepared to complain
Complaining can be a remarkably effective tool in resolving a problem with an insurer. In the first half of last year, 57% of complaints made to insurers were ‘upheld’ by the insurer (i.e. it admitted it had got something wrong), according to the latest FCA data.
4) Contact the Financial Ombudsman Service
0800 023 4567source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/will-your-car-insurer-let-you-down-when-it-matters-most-azKzL9m9ippy